High 5’s has survived an epic night of darts to be the first team through to the Mountain Dart League Division 1 grand final after a magnificent victory over Bad Boys.
Week one of finals on Friday night lived up to all expectations with both the preliminary and elimination finals producing high-quality action.
High 5’s eventually prevailed 11-9 over Bad Boys to earn direct qualification for the ‘big dance’…but it was certainly a hard-fought victory.
Jamie Wolff and S Ballinger both threw 180s for the Bad Boys, while B Simmonds answered with one of his own for High 5’s to keep the number-one ranked team with its noses just in front.
High 5’s will now sit back and wait to see who its grand final challenger is, with Bad Boys to take on elimination final winners MDDA Bulls Eyes in this week’s preliminary final 2.
Bulls Eyes also won a tough contest, winning 11-8 to end the brave season-long challenge of Noble Park 1.
J Webb provided the individual highlight for Bulls Eyes, throwing a brilliant 180, while the super-consistent Chris Richardson also threw one for Noble Park 1 on her final night of the season.
Bad Boys and MDDA Bulls Eyes are bound to produce another cracker of a game this Friday.
Division 2 finals produced a night of upsets, beginning with an 11-6 victory for Spectrum over Bandits in preliminary final 1.
Bandits finished on top of the ladder at season’s end, but it was Spectrum who continued its solid form of late to march through to this year’s grand final.
Bandits will now need to be careful in this week’s preliminary final 2, after Outcasts showed impressive form to score an 11-5 triumph over Black Bulls in the opening-night eliminator.
The class of Outcasts is obvious with Adam and J Sandham both throwing 180s in a perfect start to the finals’ series.
Bandits and Outcasts is sure to be a tough game this week.
In Division 3, Redbacks 2 is through to the grand final after a ding-dong battle with Madarras.
The top-of-the-ladder Redbacks were pushed all the way by Madarras but came away with an 11-8 victory.
Outstanding on the night was Maureen Andrews, with solid scoring in the doubles and backing that up with the match-winning peg of double-10 in the singles.
The Goodies had a dominant 11-3 win in the elimination final against Vales 3, who played with five players only.
Madarras against The Goodies will no doubt be another highly fought contest this week.
• PRELIMINARY FINAL FIXTURE
Friday 27 June, Elliott Road, Dandenong South
DIVISION 1 – Bad Boys v MDDA Bulls Eyes.
DIVISION 2 – Bandits v Outcasts.
DIVISION 3 – Madarras v The Goodies.
